On April 30, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Lincoln Police Department will participate in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Prescription Take Back Initiative. It will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

LPD will be collecting potentially dangerous, expired, unused, and unwanted prescription and over-the-counter drugs for safe destruction at the following sites:

Walgreens

8300 Northern Lights Drive

Walgreens

2630 Pine Lake Road

Walgreens

4000 South 70th Street

CVS

4800 O Street

CVS

1401 Superior Street

SCIP (School Community Intervention Program) volunteers will also be on hand at each site.
Collection sites in every local community can be found by going to www.dea.gov.

Last September, Americans turned in 242,000 pounds-121 tons-of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by the DEA and more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement partners, including the Lincoln Police Department. Last year, 586 pounds were collected in Lincoln alone.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines-flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash-both pose potential safety and health hazards.